Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS–4)

maltreated by a nonbiological parent, parent’s partner or by another person weregenerally maltreated by males. This applies to children at every level of harm.6.4Perpetrator’s AgeTable 6–5 shows the percentages of children by their perpetrator’s age foreach category of Harm Standard maltreatment and perpetrator relationship. As in Tables6–3 and 6–4, the table includes children with multiple perpetrators in all applicableperpetrator age categories. When this occurred, the row percentages sum to more than100%. Thus, a child who was physically abused by both biological parents, one 22 yearsold and the other 29 years old, is included in percentages in both the “< 26 years” and“26–35 years” age columns. This table also provides a column for children whoseperpetrators were of unknown age, because their percentages are not trivial. Children arein the last column (perpetrator of unknown age) only if age was unknown for allperpetrators in the category. The bottom-most section of Table 6–5 indicates that theperpetrator’s age was unknown for almost one-fifth of children with Harm Standardmaltreatment (18%). This percentage is highest (25%) for “other” perpetrators, whomore often had missing information about their characteristics.Table 6–5 shows that, overall, more children experienced Harm Standardmaltreatment at the hands of perpetrators 26 years of age or older (35% or more) than byperpetrators younger than 26 years old (11%). The oldest perpetrators (over 35 years ofage) predominated in the category of nonbiological parents or parents’ partners. For wellover one-half (57%) of children who were abused or neglected by a nonbiological parentor parent’s partner, this person was in the oldest perpetrator age group. Moreover, thispattern appears in every category of Harm Standard maltreatment. The youngestperpetrators (under 26 years old) predominated among nonparents (other persons). Thesepersons can only perpetrate abuse, since NIS definitions require only parents or guardiansto be perpetrators of countable neglect.Table 6–6 presents the percentages of children with perpetrators in differentage groups by severity of harm and perpetrator relationship. Perpetrators age 26 andolder predominate among children seriously or moderately harmed (35% or higher), butfor children with inferred injury or impairment, perpetrators were most commonly olderthan 35 years of age (42%). Again, differences are apparent across the categories of6-11